Working on the science fiction series Dark Angel brought both Jensen Ackles and Jessica Alba their fair share of success, despite some ups and downs. Fox’s show, which starred Alba as super soldier Max Guevara escaping from government agents in a post-apocalyptic Seattle, was created by James Cameron and Charles H. Eglee and premiered in 2000.
During the second season, Ackles joined the show as Max’s fellow supersoldier, Alec McDowell (X5-494). The actors engaged in a lot of fighting during Dark Angel’s action sequences, but Ackles maintained that the tension between them was even greater off-screen.
The former Supernatural cast member revealed in 2022 how “horrible” his experience was while working on Dark Angel, saying that the Fantastic Four star “did not make it easy” for him on set.
Dark Angel: Jensen Ackles Revealed Challenges of Working Alongside Jessica Alba
Even though Alec and Max were teammates in Season 2 of Dark Angel, Jensen Ackles and Jessica Alba had a very different vibe on set. During Michael Rosenbaum’s Inside of You podcast, Ackles quiptorily but affectionately described his “horrible” experience working with the Camp Nowhere actress.
During the second season of the show, Ackles became a series regular and admitted that he was frequently “picked on” by Alba. “I’ve told this to her face”, the former confessed, emphasizing that their relationship was based only on love.
Like the worst kind of “bickering a brother and sister” could do, Ackles had a blunt assessment of Alba. In his words:
“She had it out for me. It wasn’t that she didn’t like me. She just was like, ‘Oh, here’s the pretty boy that network brought in for some more window dressing because that’s what we all need.’ Very quickly I was like, ‘What the f*ck? What did I do?’”
“But we bickered,” the Batman actor, 46, said, adding:
“We bickered like brother and sister.”
Eventually, the Dark Angel co-stars got along, and Alba even went above and beyond to console Ackles after his grandfather passed away while James Cameron’s series was being filmed. The father of three confessed:
“She literally just walked into my trailer and held me for a half an hour. So it was that kind of a relationship.”
What about Jessica Alba? How was her experience working at Dark Angel, which also starred Michael Weatherly, Jennifer Blanc, Alimi Ballard, and Richard Gunn?
How Was Jessica Alba Affected by Her Then-Relationship With Michael Weatherly?
Jensen Ackles speculated on the same podcast episode that Jessica Alba’s initial lack of interest in him could have been influenced by her former relationship with her Dark Angel co-star Michael Weatherly. The Dallas-born actor shared with Michael Rosenbaum (via the Inside of You podcast):
“I love Jess, which I know kind of contradicts what I’ve just said. [But] she was under an immense amount of pressure on that show. She was young, she was in a relationship with [co-star Michael Weatherly], and that was rocky and causing some undue stress, I believe, on set.”
The Fantastic Four actress, 42, had a romantic relationship with Weatherly for three years, from 2000 to 2003 (per Independent).
It is clear from listening to Rosenbaum’s podcast that Ackles’s “horrible” experience working with Alba was more like sibling rivalry. Even though they were constantly at each other’s throats, when important times came, their rivalry gave way to support. The Boys actor summed up their relationship with a poignant and funny comment, saying:
“If she walked in, we’d be all hugs, but she didn’t make it easy on me.”
No matter how much drama there was on set, Ackles and Alba both gave it their all while filming their respective roles. Sadly, the show did not receive a third season renewal despite receiving mostly positive reviews and winning multiple accolades, including the People’s Choice Award for Best New TV Drama.
Anyway, you can buy both seasons of Dark Angel on Amazon.
